About last night …

Be of good cheer, all you Montrealers who are freezing your hockey bags off in the city’s brutal cold snap.
For one thing, The Atlantic magazine reports that at minus-31C, southern Manitoba is as cold as Mars. Be happy you don’t live in Winnipeg.
And your Montreal Canadiens are hot.
How hot?
Undefeated this year, baby!

In his postgame media scrum, parts of which were telecast by L’Antichambre, Michel Therrien called that crazy Thursday night game in Dallas a big win and the capper of an “excellent” road trip.

Those of us still having nightmares about the game in Carolina may quibble about the coach’s choice of adjectives. But the Canadiens took seven of a possible 12 points on their longest road trip of the season. And they sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, nine points clear of the ninth-place Ottawa Senators, who visit the Bell Centre Saturday night.

Therrien was equally effusive in praise of P.K. Subban, whose goal, three assists and plus-3 in Dallas constituted what the coach called ubban’s best game of the season.

“(P.K.) made good decisions with the puck,” Therrien said. “He took the ice that Dallas gave him and didn’t force anything.”

Slight correction: P.K. may have forced a revision in the thinking of Steve Yzerman and his Team Canada staff. They will announce their choices for Sochi on Tuesday, and all the rumours have P.K. on the bubble … at best.

Only one Canadian defenceman, Chicago’s Duncan Keith, has more points than P.K.’s 33.

Those two brilliant passes that led to goals by U.S. Olympian Max Pacioretty? P.K. displayed the vision and awareness that are ideally suited to the big ice in Sochi.

As for the Subban goal, on which he left Dallas defenders gasping in his wake … here I’ll borrow the words British soccer commentators use to describe the heroics of my man Luis Suarez: “quality” and “genius”.

P.K. is a joy to watch, but you know what?

I half wish Yzerman et al don’t pick him for Team Canada.

Subban would have that much extra motivation to stick it to those responsible for the Sochi snub.

And for the next 40 games and – inshallah – the playoffs, the Canadiens are going to need a highly motivated P.K.

And a goaltender that’s better than what we saw in Dallas.

No issue there. Carey Price, who will go to Sochi, was out of position several times, giving Dallas some wide-open nets that the Stars obligingly missed.

On two occasions, Price was bailed out by his B.C. homeboy Josh Gorges, whose seven blocked shots included a spectacular skate save. With Alexei Emelin watching from the pressbox, Gorges was paired with Andrei Markov while Francis Bouillon logged almost 21 minutes paired with P.K.

Douglas Murray and Raphael Diaz each played more than 17 minutes – high for a fourth pairing, but it was weird game that yielded some unusual stats:

• Tomas Plekanec was 4-16 on faceoffs after going 6-28 in Carolina.

• The Canadiens could only muster six shots in the first period. On the six-game road trip, they played 13 regulation time periods in which their shot totals were eight or fewer.

• Alex Galchenyuk had less time ToI than every skater except Michaël Bournival and Ryan White. I wonder what goes through the kid’s head watching Tyler Seguin.

The second overall pick of the 2010 draft, Seguin was brought along slowly and used as a winger in Boston. Playing his natural centre position in Dallas, Seguin has racked up 21 goals and 20 assists.

Everyone says it’s only a matter of time before Galchenyuk is moved to centre. But the Canadiens have a logjam at the position.

David Desharnais had a goal and an assist in Dallas. DD, Max-Pac and Brendan Gallagher are the Canadiens best scoring line … by a lot.

Plekanec is a valuable two-way centre who is saddled with a pair of under-performing wingers: Rene Bourque (how did this guy have two 26-goal seasons in Calgary) and Brian Gionta.

Lars Eller scored against the Stars and is developing a physical game. He and Galchnyuk looked better once Bournival replaced Brandon Prust as their left winger.

Then there’s Daniel Brière – zero points and minus-7 in 10 games before becoming a healthy scratch in Carolina and Dallas.

The consensus opinion on L’Antichambre is Brière is toast in Montreal. He’s just not a Michel Therrien player.

Brière is still effective on the PP. But he’s useless as a fourth-liner, and Therrien has tried him just about everywhere, to no avail, on the top three lines.

The Thursday rumour mill had the Canadiens talking to Buffalo, where Brière enjoyed his best seasons.

That’s a situation to keep an eye on as the Canadiens carry their perfect 2014 record forward.

Not at surprised that Briere is done. He was signed because te Habs effectively promised him power play time and line mates who would be offensively gifted.

That’s how free agency works, and doesn’t work, as in this case.

Briere was not playing great hockey, but he felt “entitled” to what Bergevin had promised him.

Therrien did not agree. The coach did not feel like Briere was helping the team win, and he stated this publicly last week in a media scrum. If Briere was not helping the team win, Therrien was not going to honor the deal Bergevin had signed.

Mostly, this is an example of poor scouting. Briere is no longer a good hockey player.

But also this goes right to that ” character” issue Bergevin has been preaching, because Briere is also lacking the ” character” to compete hard under adverse conditions.

I’m not sure exactly what percentage of a contract teams can eat when they trade a player under the new CBA? You would have to imagine if the Habs were to trade Briere to Buffalo for Stafford that they would have to eat as much of Briere’s contact that is allowed?

Stafford has been off his game for about a year and a half but he’s only 28 and it’s very possible that with a change of scenery he could be a solid 2nd line player again. He looked really good a couple yeas ago.

Briere is completely finished and Buffalo isn’t stupid. The Habs would have to eat a lot of his contract and send Buffalo either a good young player or a high draft pick as well.

Not sure the Habs would have to do much more than a straight-up trade to land Stafford. The only fly in the ointment would be if there are other teams interested (which there shouldn’t be) and that raises the asking price.

I agree Stafford is younger and bigger and has more “potential” in that regard, but he’s been terrible for a while now as you pointed out, and these should be his prime years. Buffalo is not stupid, they know Stafford’s trade value is in the dumps right now. Briere is older, smaller, more beat-up, and playing many minutes with sub-par linemates and still has similar point-per-game numbers than Stafford who has received more quality icetime and linemates (from the little I’ve seen of Buffalo this year).

If we have to eat some salary it would be minimal, and if we have to throw in something else to sweeten the deal, that would also be minimal (below average prospect, 4th round pick or worse). I think Stafford could still maybe turn it around given he has youth on his side, and for that reason I hope we make this trade. Plus he at least has size which by itself is an upgrade, but Stafford’s trade value is awful right now.

Amazing to think just how one sided the Flip Forsberg Martin Erat trade could be. Watching Forsberg in the WJC he looks like a man among boys. So much potential, sent packing for a guy who now wants out.

Look, I understand and support the notion that a coach needs to get players to buy into a system and be responsible and the like. That said should there not be some concern that M T seems to have difficulty getting talented players to realize their potential in his “system” and under his tutelage? Max and P.K. are playing great right now, but P. K. clearly seemed “hamstrung” for a while and Max is clearly not M T’s cup of tea either. Erik Cole perhaps came back from the lockout with a bit of an attitude problem, but M T never really gave him a decent chance and basically refused to use him on the PP even though Cole is a true power forward who goes to the net. Many on this site share the belief that Briere has never been given a fair opportunity to succeed. Eller clearly has the talent to be a #2 center and has the size that we need up the middle, but does not get PP time even though he is better at maintaining control of the puck than DD if you ask me. It almost seemed to me that the Habs won last night in spite of MT.

The road trip was okay, not excellent. We lost to a couple of bottom feeding teams which the Habs seem wont to do.

My concern is that MT seems plagued by a myopia that is detrimental to both player development and player and team performance. I hope that things get better but I don’t have a lot of confidence that they will.

The Carolina game the other night was all too deja vu for me as I was sitting in the Belle Centre for the Habs – Canes playoff game in 2002 when M T took a bench minor for screaming at Kerry Fraser. The Habs were up 2-0 at the time and the subsequent 5 on 3 resulted in a game and series changing goal that would cost the Habs a chance to advance to the conference semifinals. Fraser should have calmed Therrien down instead of assessing the penalty, but Therrien’s timing was abysmal.

Clearly he has not learned anything as the Habs were still up by two goals when he took the bench minor the other night and again, that goal in particular seemed to turn the tide. I don’t dislike him personally, I just think that he is too volatile and reactive for today’s NHL. I would love it if he proved me wrong, but I don’t see that happening.

I understand that playing in a team, in any kind of team means that you have to follow certain rules and maybe not use all your individual qualities as you would like to or as you are used to.

What i do not get is where you get the information when you say «P. K. clearly seemed “hamstrung” for a while and Max is clearly not M T’s cup of tea either » . Nobody knows that those two are feeling this way really with their coach if not from reading it here or hearing it on an another form of media. In fact to see P.K. winning the Norris and Max Pac being the best of this team leads me to think that those two are thriving in this system.

The boss is the boss and he is being paid to make decision and ultimately is the only one who will pay for it, knowing that the coach always loses his jobs and that the players never do. Therrien is blamed for decisions he takes and for moves he does not do. It`s a no win situation and worst part of it : he`s french !!!
I look at the standings and feel as if the job is being done and that starting from scratch just over a year ago ,that team has progressed a lot although a lot remains to be done.

My concern I guess, is that the team’s performance, like his personality, is erratic. If they beat Tampa Bay and Dallas on this last road trip, they should not have lost to two bottom feeding teams like Florida and Carolina. P K was tremendous in the last 2 games, but before that his production, like that of a lot of the Habs players had slowed down considerably- for a while the Habs were averaging less than 2 goals per game. There was a malaise, clearly. Maybe last night will be a turning point, we shall see. I don’t get RDS as I live in the states, but if it’s true that L’antichambre is being rather critical of MT right now, obviously it is not because he is French.

Last season under Therrien, Pacioretty (3:05) was the only forward who averaged more PP TOI/G than the “refused” Cole (3:02).

Early on and for most of this season so far, Eller was given a lot of PP TOI (much more than Desharnais) but he struggled to produce. It has only been in the last month or so that Desharnais passed Eller in PP TOI having been more productive with it. Desharnais now has about 30% more PP TOI than Eller and has about 165% more PP points.

I understand that some folks don’t like Therrien as the coach, and everyone is certainly entitled to their opinions, but the stats and numbers don’t seem to back up much of the specific complaints you have outlined above.

Jim – don’t expend too much energy trying to understand a blow-hard like Burke. He’s a knob, and as Burly said, loves the sound of his own voice.

Gerry – Burke was already in Toronto when the Ryan trade rumours came out of Anaheim. As for Scott Burnside, this shouldn’t affect his access whatsoever. He and another well-respected U.S. journalist (whose name I can’t recall atm) were granted that access and Burke and Co. knew they were there to report the proceedings. Anything they said was fairgame and they knew it. The Sh%tstorm this has created falls squarely on Burke and his staff.

I still have a funny recollection that when Burke was still in Anaheim the Bobby Ryan trade rumours started. I don’t blame Burnside in the least, but I can see Burke trying to spin this in hockey circles that he wasn’t supposed to repeat “everything” he heard. I agree it falls on Burke, but this is the same guy who is trying to sue Spoonerman for some internet stories.

Because we come to expect that the officials will make mistakes and be biased to no end. It’s a fixed league. Just like everything else.
Watch the team for entertainment and last night was Very entertaining.

Well the fact that TSN took it OUT of there game recap is kind of wierd. Another thing is Patchs was a star of the day and PK was not, Patchs played great but PK was more dominant, and NHL picked an American over a Canadian! ya i know, im a habs fan so i have to think there is a conspiracy

The second I heard the bogus Max Pacioretty trade rumors I thought it would be the worst move since trading Patrick Roy or John LeClair. The two moves that destroyed the Canadiens for the better part of twenty years.

Can you imagine Pacioretty playing on a line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn? I’m telling you, Pacioretty could score 50 goals. Maybe he scores 50 on a line with Galchenyuk one day but even if he doesn’t I’ll be thrilled with a bunch of 35 or 40 goal seasons.

Moving to Desharnais, this guy has proven me wrong. He’s a good 2nd line center. What does he have, 20pts in his last 20 games played? So it’s time for the Canadiens to smarten the hell up and get rid of Gionta and Briere! Easier said than done. It will simply not work in the playoffs with 5 small forwards: Plekanec, Gionta, Gallagher, Desharnais and Briere. How stupid is Bergevin to possibly think that will work over the long run?

Oh, nice scrap by Travis Moen last night! A few more goals from Moen would be nice but the guy is a solid player, kills penalties and teams generally don’t score against the Habs with him on the ice.

As happy as I was about Douglas Murray joining the Habs it simply hasn’t worked out. He’s shown flashes of good defensive play and thrown some big hits but generally he’s been a detriment to the team. However, last night he played great!! He finished the night even, threw a couple nice hits and didn’t look a step or two behind like he has in most games. He played 17 minutes as well! Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come!

Mr. Boone writes:
” Rene Bourque (how did this guy have two 26-goal seasons in Calgary)”
———–
Part of it was playing with linemates Glencross-Jokinen and sometimes Iginla.
Defense was not a concern for Bourque..
Bourque was -17 one of those years when many other Calgary forwards were in the Plus + area…

I guess when Gauthier made the Bourque trade, he missed Kelly Hrudey’s call out of Bourque.

November 13th-2011
Hrudey rips Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque

” Who in the world would trade for this guy?”
” His passion level on a scale of 1-10 isn’t low – It’s turned off”
” I don’t think he cares about the game. He should apologise to his team mates.”

With all the Briere and Buffalo rumours swirling around I cant help but become curious, if there is anything I could actually see the habs wanting in Buffalo it would be Moulson, Ott, Foligno, Hodgson, realistically it makes no sense for the Sabres to trade Foligno or Hodgson unless the return is a huge package of picks and young players (therefore trading for those two doesn’t make sense for these two teams). That leaves Ott and Moulson who the habs would likely be interested in, and I think the Sabres would be highly motivated to dump Stafford and Leino. Given all of this, I cannot see the Habs having interest what-so-ever in taking Leino. However, Briere for Stafford deal would make sense as both teams dump a player that is not a fit with their team, Stafford is much more useful to the habs (6’2″ 215lbs) even if he isn’t scoring. To acquire Ott AND Moulson I think it will take a lot of creativity. Possibly something like Rene Borque, Sebastian Collberg, 2nd Rd Pick (if Moulson re-signs OR Habs go to cup final it becomes a 1st). So essentially the trade would be;

Fun game to watch last night.
Some posters below asked about Murray’s game.
For Murray, it was perfect.
Murray should not sit.
Opposing players shy away from him, they do not challenge him along the boards and will even stop up to avoid him.
He does not lose puck battles.
In the first 2 minutes he hit the post… yes the one at the Dallas end!
His best shift was after an icing call in the 3rd, with a lot of tired Habs running around he lugs the puck out to center allowing for a line change.

And what you say is what I wanted to hear. If we moderate our expectations, then surely we can value someone like Murray for the narrow but effective role he performs. Would we prefer to have 6 Subbans? Of course. But until the NHL negotiates anti-cloning legislation exemptions (don’t snigger! Just give it a few years), we won’t ever get 6 Subbans. So a guy who inhibits the enthusiasm of rambunctious opposing forwards (like Cole for example) is someone who can contribute to this team (until such time that we upgrade).

I know some are looking at this as though Moulson might be the piece coming back, and while I’m definitely NOT an insider of any kind, I feel very confident that any trade talks they’re having (assuming there really are any to begin with) are involving Briere and Stafford.

They’re both having bad years, their point-per-game numbers are very similar, they have identical term and money remaining on their contracts, and I bet both clubs are willing to move their respective players (even though it would be a lateral move) just to see if the player they acquire will add ‘something’ the old player didn’t.

Right now, the Sabres are in full rebuild and all they’re looking for are picks and prospects. They’ll trade Moulson I suspect, but at the deadline when they will get maximum value. In the meantime, they need to keep their fans interested and bringing back an old favourite like Briere would be a popular move for their fans and might help them sell more tickets. If all it costs them is Stafford, they’ll probably do it. Maybe they’re trying to see if another team will offer them more, maybe them and Montreal are working on some finer details like someone throwing in a 5th rounder or whatever.

“under the heavy hand of MT, PK takes less dumb penalties, moves the puck better and won the norris” and no matter who was coaching pk would have progressed in his first, second, and third years just that way. MT is a non factor in subbans progression. next you will be saying how he made crosby a better player too. (as mt himself already implied….lol)

Do I want Briere on this team? No. But I can’t help but feel a bit bad for him.

-Didn’t get a shot at Center.
-Plays with Pacioretty DD, the whole line is garbage, but he gets bounced
-Plays with Plek Gio, line is actually good, he does well, bounced again
-Than continues to get couple shifts on 3rd line during 1st period followed by 4th line rest of the game. Than pressbox every second game.
———————————

Every player gets different treatment. Prust vs White. Prust has had a real off year but would never see the pressbox even if White has been real strong.

Desharnais gets Pacioretty, Gallagher and First line PP minutes. which is essentially the maximum you can give a player with MTLs roster. Things like this obviously make a guy like Briere feel like the odd man out. Not shocked he’s willing to waive his NMC

I don’t disagree completely, BUT, you’re letting Briere get off scott-free on his own accountabilities. For example, why couldn’t Briere get DD-Max going the way Gally did? Why couldn’t Briere do something to earn his ice-time or placement on a better line? Sometimes players get snake-bit, everyone knows this, but Briere wasn’t even generating chances. Defensively he’s useless. Etc.

I like MB, but the Briere signing was just plain dumb and directly contradicted his statement of “we need to get bigger and tougher to play against”. I honestly have no idea wtf was going through his mind when he signed him.

I am with you Mike. Some of this has to fall on Briere. He was given time on the top 3 lines and has never really looked good for more than a game or two.

He is playing with no fire or intensity. After seeing him in the Philly game where he was given opportunity he floated around and was seen more talking to his old buddies in Philly then trying to get on the scoreboard. If playing the team that bought you out does not motivate you nothing will.

Between all the money he has made and the concussions he has suffered there’s plenty of motivation for him to not really try. That shouldn’t be the case, but I suspect its part of it. He has children and his post-hockey life to consider. He’ll continue to take a pay cheque if someone’s willing to give him substantial salary, but don’t expect him to really go out there and earn it.

Plus he’s played a whole NHL career (mostly quite successfully) as an undersized guy and that had to take a toll on the rest of his body.

I’m not saying DD and Max aren’t accountable for their poor play earlier this year, and I’m not trying to $#!t on Briere either, just wanted to share the flip-side of the coin for the sympathy you were giving Briere.

At the end of the day, he’s done nothing to endear himself to fans or the team that signed him.

He couldn’t sign Vinny so he signed Briere. He wanted a francophone. He could have gotten Jagr, who a lot of people wanted signed and I think he’s leading NJ in scoring. Hopefully he’ll think less about the name on the back of the jersey and more about the crest on the front of the jersey and go after the best players available

Okay, I’m taking partial credit for this win. I don’t like to use it too often but every once in a while I make a prediction (I’m inevitably wrong) and I said we would have our butts handed to us in Dallas. You’re welcome. Like I said, it’s not to be over used. I’ll save it for a rainy day. PK was awesome. Go Habs!

It speaks volumes about the organizational dysfunction within this franchise when the General Manager wastes $8 million worth of cap space on a player that his own, hand-picked coach doesn’t like. How could Bergevin make a signing like this in a vaccuum? Why wouldn’t he ask for the input of his coach before pulling the trigger? If you’re thinking of making an offer to a guy and your coach says he can’t coach him then you either replace the coach or sign some other player.

Therrien pre-judged him and set him up to fail from Day One. Look, I’m no fan of Briere but he was not given much of an opportunity to succeed. Therrien has endless patience with Desharnais but seemingly no time for Briere. And it’s not the first time we’ve seen this. In his first go-round as coach of the Habs, Therrien’s GM acquired Mariusz Czerkawski, who Therrien proceeded to treat like something he had found on the bottom of his shoe. In that case, Therrien didn’t even wait for the season to begin before relegating Czerkawski to the dog house. He did it from the first day of training camp. So to discover that Briere has not really been given much of a chance to shine is hardly surprising to me. It’s Therrien’s M.O. He is highly suspicious of offensive-minded players. He’s a ham-n-eggs coach who only knows one method: dump, chase, cycle, grind. He has no clue how to coach offense.

I can’t speak for what the relationship between Briere and MT has been this season, my point was in response to the fact MT didn’t know Briere as a player prior to his arrival, I don’t have the crystal ball others here have to know inner details except what I have seen on 24CH. And when watching that, it certainly doesn’t appear that MT treats Briere the way many here describe it.

Opened the Gazette this morning and the lead sports story was about the Leafs being happy that the outdoor game is finally over. WHO CARES ABOUT THE LEAFS?????????????? NOT IN MONTREAL WE DON’T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that in the minds of the Toronto media, Toronto is the center of the Universe and the Laffs are Canada’s team. But really, do we need to have stories in the Gazette almost every morning about the Laffs just to prove their point?

Agreed. Here in Vancouver our all-sports radio station doesn’t start it’s local programming until 6am. So prior to 6am (as I’m driving in to work) they simulcast the morning show from TSN 1050 in Toronto. This morning I turn on the radio and the first thing I hear is “Coming up after the break, we’ll have Jeff O’Neill on to talk about all things Leafs” at which point I turned the knob. My question to the local Vancouver management would be “Why does every nationally simulcasted show have to originate from Toronto? You need to fill in some time before the local morning show starts? Fine. You have three affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone to choose from: Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Why must we automatically be saddled with the show out of Toronto? Why not one of the other two markets or even a rotation? But these questions never occur to them because they have this Toronto-centric mentality that assumes two things which any Montrealer could tell them are patently false:

1) that everyone outside the 416 area code gives a damn about things happening in Toronto, and

2) that any show originating from Toronto, even if it only deals with local Toronto issues, is a de-facto “national” show simply because it’s from Toronto.

So we are all happy today..except Timo (of course)..I have mixed emotions about the game tomorrow, with the exception of one (a 7-2 shellacking), every time I have gone to a Habs/Sens game we have lost. I am very excited about going to the hockey shrine but you can all understand why I am a little nervous. At least its in our home rink, when I go to the one on the 16th and if we lose then, I may require some bail money.
Also thanks for all the suggestions for shopping I am going to check the Eaton Center for sure..I think we will skip Wanda’s though..

I have a large network of friends and business acquaintances who enjoy the tickets when I am unable to use them. Not a great deal of money to be made if you are looking to sell the tickets for a substantive profit, however you don’t lose money either. If I can recall I got $300 for the pair, which is basically face value.

The Preds have been running under one of the smallest budgets in the league until recently, and have developed two norris winners, a vezina calibre goalie. Poile has made some daft moves recently (Gaustad, Kostitsyns, Radulov, not trading Suter) but his overall body of work with what he’s had to work with is quite impressive.

A belated Happy New Year to Boone and the HIO family,
Nice to win a game where Carey was not the difference.
Question-would Bergevin and team brass not include MT in discussions to bring Briere on board. If Briere is not MT’s kind of player, might have been good to know that before signing him for $8 mill for 2 years.

Good Morning everyone. I am sure Buffalo and Mtl are talking as reported. But I can’t understand the scenario that Buffalo will take Briere.

That must mean a couple things if that happens.

Moulson has given them all indication he wont sign in Buffalo.
And HABS will have to part with a really good prospect. So then Buffalo eats the Briere contract for a year+ and still get a prospect in their ‘rebuilding’.

Can’t see how Buffalo does this in any other scenario. Anyone??

Edit: Thanks for all the responses. The range of suggestions shows how difficult it is to see Briere being a principal in the trade.

Good morning, I think the scenario that allows Moulson to come to Mtl would definitely involve a prospect or even the 1st round pick this coming year. I am not against trading the 1st as last year the Habs had 4 picks in the 1st 2 rounds so it was really a 2-for-1. Looking like our 1st pick will again be in the 20-30 range so we are not getting a Galchenyuk or anything. Moulson seems to be a quality scorer and you have to give some to get some. I would rather give up the 1st than 1 of the 3 d-men in Hamilton who are virtually NHL ready. A 20-30 1st rounder pick won’t come back to play against you for at least 2-3 years.
What about the possibility that Gionta is involved in that move to Buffalo? He is from the area, finish up the career in your hometown and all that?

I can see Briere being moved, however to facilitate a deal, Montreal will likely need to absorb a salary coming back. That is why I thought Stafford might make sense as both players are signed for one more year at $4 million dollars. Both players have fallen out of favor and could benefit from a change of scenery. That said, I am sure that there are plenty of moving parts and the creation of any deal can have many facets. Where there is smoke, there is often fire. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to learn that Bergevin is trying to make a move, however it will only come to fruitition if there is a willing partner.

My goodness we would regret that move. Have patience. Tinordi has significant upside. Trading him away, to a division rival with a ton of prospects and picks would only help turn Buffalo into a perennial contender.

Could only watch the Stars’ broadcast on Lamecenter last night, and it was an edifying experience. The broadcast team was GUSHING about Subban during the game and intermissions; they can clearly see what a talent he is. We Habs fans are so fortunate to have Subban playing on the team we support. Go Habs!

Also had RDS issues so could only watch FOX. What a surprise! Craig Ludwig is a great colour guy. Insightful, well spoken, funny. To paraphrase Ludwig on Subban: “Your wildest ponies make the best horses.” BTW, looks to me like Bourque is trying to play through concussion symptoms. If so, management should rest him. A Bourque who doesn’t bang is of no use to the team. Give him some time off and bring up Leblanc. And while you’re at it, Pateryn for Boullion please. As we know, Frankie can move the puck but can’t move the players in the blue paint.

This is why I watch on RDS HD. I can make out just enough to understand, however not enough to worry about the finer points of commentary. I can not listen to Garry Galley, who detroys the CBC broadcasts. At least I like the sound of Bob Cole’s voice….

Here’s wondering what effect the naming of Max to Team USA had on the thinking of PK last night.

It appeared from here that Subban decided last night that he wants a part of Team Canada – and he will make the team or not, playing “PK Subban hockey”…. and not some dictated, stifling style a coaching staff is trying to overwhelm him with.

From his goal, to his magnificent unselfish set-ups directly leading to 3 more goals, to his celebration, I almost got the impression that Subban was making a huge statement to Montreal Management/Coaching:

This is who I am!
This is how I play!
This is how I celebrate because I am emotional and I care and I want to win at all costs.
You don’t like it?
Trade me.

Subban played smart amazing hockey last night.
No useless end to end rushes that forces the forwards to put on the brakes.
No bad pressing or pinching and getting caught and allowing 2 on 1 or 3 on 1.

He did all of that playing with a partner that would have trouble making another NHL roster as a 7th Dman.

Not everyone who criticizes PK is a racist, you are allowed to dislike him as a hockey player for reasons other than the color of his skin. Let’s save the racism accusuations for actual racism.

Let’s take off the homer rose coloured glasses for a second. PK’s reputation as a risky player is well earned. In the season before the lockout, he led the entire league in minor penalties. In a short tournamant with sudden death games, discipline is an absolute essential requirement, so you can’t blame the Team Canada brass for being cautious with him.

Subban was also 3rd worst in the league among defensemen in 2011-12 with 88 give aways. Now this stat is notoroiusly unrealiable and is often just a reflection of high ice-time, but PK used to hold on to the puck waaaaaaaaaaay too long in the JM era. If you watch one of the recent 24CH episodes Jodoin is practically begging PK to keep moving the puck because he is “a completely different player” when he does move it, to paraphrase Jodoin.

Since then PK,under the heavy hand of MT, has taken less dumb penalties, moves the puck better, and won the Norris. If the Americans can take Cam Fowler based on recent play, surely the Canadian selection committee can recognize the growth in PK’s game. He would be slotted in on the 2nd pairing if I was picking, but he should at least be in the top 8.

I am always saying to myself that I hope he doesn’t go too far beyond his own blue line because it seems like it takes him a very long time to get turned around heading back in the other direction. He is solid but the game is so fast now, he really looks slow.

I liked his game. One shift in particular stood out, where Eric Cole tried to drive wide with speed, which was neutralized by Murray taking a great line. When Murray arrives, he does so with a purpose. In this case he laid an effective check on Cole behind the net. The battle ensued in front of Price, with Murray making it difficult for Cole to gain position in the crease. Murray takes a ton of heat from Canadiens fans, but he brings a dimension that this team is lacking.

After two tours of Afghanistan, i know those infidels who invoke those words. Muslims who invoke it often blow up soon after. It makes me oersonally disgusted. Ok?
One day you ll be under the muslim boot and we will see which god you pray to.

Thanks for replying, and respect for your service and its inevitable price.

I don’t think you detected the genuine openness in my question.

I could not possibly question your experience, but over a pint might challenge the logic you’ve arrived at as a result. Applying your logic to Northern Ireland 1960s-1990s would result in the conclusion that all Protestant and Catholic Christians are barbaric, sociopathic nut-cases. Also, are you not conflating the particular Afghan-Arabic culture you encountered with the entire Muslim faith? Surprisingly (for some), only a minority of Muslims are Arabic. Despite your dire warnings, I don’t believe that many Muslims in Indonesia — which is non-Arabic and has the world’s highest concentration of Muslims — wish to put me under their boot.

Sorry, I said over a pint. It’s good that devotion to a hockey team can bring together people of dramatically different views and experience.

I want Emelin in there no matter how many mistakes he makes. A good coach will explain that he was up there to get another view of the game. Without knowing Therrien I imagine it went like this. You get your blankity blank blank blankin butt up there and you sit there until I call you.

I am sure a game watching probably helped him a great deal. I would like to see him back in, but at the same time, I understand a coach rewarding a winning lineup. It’s not like Emelin is going anywhere, if it takes an extended winning streak to get him in the lineup, I can live with that!

DOn’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see Frankie B. as a regular in the lineup, but you know what I mean.

I’ve always been in favor of bringing up a guy to replace a specific need. In this instance, if we need a fourth line centre, I would be targeting Nattinen, Dumont or Tarkasky. I have no issue with Leblanc coming up, but let’s not play him out of position. You can’t bring up Patrick Holland to play on the fourth line. Sorry, my rant for the day….

You release the hounds and they’ll bring home supper. PK has to be allowed to play like that all the time. Yes there will be some mistakes where goals will be scored against but unlike Peetfleet who sees shades of last year in Carey Price, we all know Price is as solid as they come, and when he plays poorly, it’s forgiven, not criticized. He’s been slammed by the same fans here since Halak left, it’s pathetic and time to move on Halakians (where are all those Halakians anyway?)

OK Therrien check your email, because I gots me a doozie of a tip for ya………Gionta, and Bourque on the powerplay is not working. In fact Gionta and Bourque on anything is not working, less ice, and pass it on to Eller and Galchenyuk with whomever (not Prust but I understand we can’t have three centers on one line, too bad Pleks, Eller and Galchenyuk are all centers).

Galchenyuk, it’s 2014 Therrien, you can’t sit talent in place of veterans anymore. Those days are over. Stop benching the kid every time he makes a mistake. But I get it you want to show him who’s boss. Pft, tic tic tic

#55 is done, you could see it all night long. Not able to move players in front of the net, and not able to keep up with the offensive play off the draw. PK tried to include him in the game last night and thanks for that, but PK just let him stand over there and play out the season.

Hats off to Moen for fighting in the perfect situation. Some moron wraps his stinky gloves around one of our players necks, and Moen got mad dog angry, and that’s acceptable.

Lord Dallas is awful, and we weren’t much better but we scored more goals than they did and it was 80’s hockey all night long, loved it!

Suck it up Montreal, you’re not cold, you want cold? Head West where we sit in this crap from November to March.

God Bless Us Everyone

CAREY CAREY CAREY

Team Canada Goaltender Olympic Update.

1. Price
2. Smith
3. Luongo

Team USA, no Ryan, no Okposo, are your forwards that great that you couldn’t have those two on the team? Should be interesting.

Just so you know, my browser spontaneously refreshed, creating a page containing only your post! And no Reply option!

Either it’s The Twilight Zone, or you my friend are clearly on the inside track.

(And spare a thought for my 18-yr-old: back to basic at 23.00 New Year’s Day, battle p/t all day every day until next Thursday…. And boy did he roast me over the state of my shoes during the Christmas break!)

Good morning friends. I’m shocked. After that crushing loss in Carolina I expected the team to go in a tailspin.

I thought this team was fragile and that loss would shake them at their core.

Boy, was I wrong. That was the most physical, intense, 60 minutes of hockey that the club has played in a long time. Talk about bounce back. Sure showed me a lot.

Players named Moen, Prust, Murray among others were engaged and gave this team a different look. On a night where Price wasn’t at his best the team managed 2 points on the road to a good Western Conference team.

another 2 pts for dd. he sure has produced since his slow start. if ur small, u better score or ur a liability. it’s time to get rid of briere & gionta. diaz will be gone b4 the season is over too. we may get better value for them closer to the trade deadline. i don’t care if we get draft picks for them.
if pleks is our shutdown center (1st, he better start winning some faceoffs), then galchenyuk & eller should have a scoring winger & be the 2nd scoring line & 2nd pp unit. prob is none of the ‘scoring wingers’ we have is actually scoring. maybe bournival is best there.
once pateryn is up, he could play with markov & emelin could pair with subban.

I can’t think of a worse captain than Max Pacioretty. Already he’s pretty much instated DD has the defacto #1 centre and made him all but untouchable. He publicly disagreees with his coach and states that playing for Team USA has been his priority this year. Most of all, he plays when he feels like it.

I think the guys on AC last night had him pegged quite well. He’s a terrific player, and every team needs his kind of goalscoring prowess, AND he’s got a great contract, but I don’t see anything there to make a leader out of except hockey talent, and that isn’t enough. One day, he may grow into that role, but he’ll be 30 or so by the time it happens.

Mostly I’d agree, but his buddy the Wolverine would likely go back into a funk if we did that and throw a public fit in the bargain. Also, if the guy is having 50 pt seasons at 3.5M a year, it’s a bargain. I think in the end it’s the Kladno Kid who’ll be the odd man out when MB finally decides to get off his butt and turn this team over.

1. A bad, very bad, but maybe not a terrible signing. We needed a Ryder replacement (why not Ryder though?) and Briere was all that was left. It was a low risk but very low reward gamble.

2. I feel he hasn’t been given a chance. That is partly his fault. Compare Briere to Gionta for example. Both ineffective but at least Gio gives the appearance of being defensively responsible. All Briere needed to do was not hurt his team defensively and he might have had the ice time he needed.

3. Why would Buffalo take him? To give the fans something to cheer? OK but is that worth the remaining $6M he is owed?

4. Don’t be so keen to see Drew Stafford coming the other way. He has the exact same contract as DB ($4M for another year). He is also pretty much finished as a hockey player, and possibly worse than DB at this point. He is getting ice time in Buffalo and not producing (except for minuses).

5. If we are sending Bufalo a draft pick to sweeten the deal it makes zero sense for us. Just leave him in the press box.

6. Steve Ott? Why is Buffalo trading their captain, a pending UFA, for a player on his last legs? If Gaustad got them a first rounder (LOL Nashville – yeah David Poile is a genius) so could Ott at the deadline. He’d find a place on a contender for sure.

7. John Scott?

8. Just kidding. Only threw Scott’s name in there to give the size queens a morning you-know-what.

Does PK make glaring mistakes with the puck? Absolutely. With an essentially threadbare nonsupporting cast, he simply tries to do too much.
That aside, he is a game breaker! And if we are to win gold behind the tattered curtain we will need game breakers. Safe is nice…but it produces a lot of 2-1 losses.
He may have to play himself into a top 6 or top 4 pairing but PK will be on the list.

Can you imagine Subban playing for the Blues, Kings or Ducks or any of another half dozen teams with some depth on D? Lights out!

Agreed. He handled Mark Fraser in the first game of the year. Guy has come to play. From what I read, nobody was more disappointed in his play from last season than Travis. That fight last night proved a great deal to me. It was a rallying point and showed the boys that it was not time to lay down. I hope they can build on this success and beat Ottawa on Saturday night.

Thanks Dunboyne for not touting an upset win for last night’s game :-).
I felt pessimistic heading into the game, and was musing that at the 41-game halfway mark, the 50 points garnered pro-rate to a 100-point season. I thought it unlikely, due to the team’s scoring woes, but with Pacioretty on fire, and Desharnais playing like past form, the outlook is more auspicious. The team cannot afford injuries to its few scoring threats.
“May you live in interesting times.”

Good points 24C. No Canadian defenceman skates as well as Subbie, and that element has to be factored in, on vast ice surfaces. Subbie volunteered his services for the World Ice Hockey Championships two years ago, only to be injured in an exhibition game, causing him to miss the tournament. The young man loves hockey, and he loves playing for Canada. He was a lesser light in on the junior team that won the WJC in 2008, taking a backseat to all-stars from his team, Steve Mason and Drew Doughty, and 1st-rounders on the team, John Tavares and Luke Schenn(!), but by the end of the 3-2 championship winning game over Sweden, the hockey world knew there was a budding superstar in Subbie.

I clap loudly for Boonie’s comments about the arrogance of the old boy’s club who have a vested-for-life member in Brian Burke.

Think about the most terrible player with the crappiest contract and that is what we’ll end up getting back for Briere if they can manage to trade him. He has already been bought out and is completely useless. What a huge DUMP MB took on this team with that signing – literally proving that the accent on your back is more important that your hockey abilities.

oh and also – how on Earth can anyone consider leaving PK off the Olympic team???? only way is if behind the scenes they are asking the team leaders (Crosby, Stamkos, Toewes, etc) and getting NO for an answer.

We just had another frost quake here in Slowville. It sounded like a bomb going off outside.

Briere to Buffalo? I’m not sure why Buffalo would consider it seeing that they are in a total rebuild mode. Briere being in free fall along with the missed opportunity to pick up Taylor Pyatt off the waiver wire (to replace Parros), has me once again questioning MB’s managerial skills.

What about last night? I thought it was the perfect antidote for what ails the Habs right now. The team certainly couldn’t afford another Carolina meltdown but winning a barnburner has to leave a good feeling with the team as they head home. Taking 7 instead of 5 points on the road trip has much more meaning than just a differential of 2.

I’m not a huge fan of Josh Gorges the way some people are on this site. He’s decent but has his limitations. However, last night was probably his best game in two years. His leadership and do or die attitude was there for all to see.

Do you want to re-ignite the Pleks line? I think the solution is quite simple – reinstate Bournival on the left side.

Team Canada will face three big hurdles when they go to Sochi: a historic inability to score goals, the larger ice surface and the emotional impact of Russian players being back in their homeland. The selection staff may question the inclusion of Subban as they try to play it safe, not wanting to take a player who is a bit unstable and unpredictable. I can understand that line of thinking. However, just look at the junior team. Derrick Pouliot is error prone just like PK. In Pouliot’s case it’s a size issue. Yet he is the one guy on the back end who can save the day and break open the game (just like he did yesterday). If Team Canada decides to go with a Bouwmeester/Pieterangelo tandem, then it might just come down to Subban versus Seabrook. I guess it will depend on Yzerman’s capacity for risk.

Four goals should be enough to win a game in the NHL. Heck three will do it for you usually. Dallas didn’t take what MTL gave them or the score could have been 10-6. MTL looked horrible in their own end again, helped by the erratic play of CP. Two bad games in a row and shades of last year are creeping in. Hopefully the comfortable confines of the Bell Centre will settle him down. A lot of running around in the D zone last night. MT should figure out how to combat that or it will be a long summer for the boys.
I’m not sure Emelin should have been the goat for the Carolina collapse but I guess a message needed to be sent. Benching Briere was the best thing MT has done in some time. Bournival will not develop with Briere in the lineup and he doesn’t strike me as a 3rd or 4th line player. I still say he plays his best with Pleks as his centre. Put Gionta in the press box next and give the kid his chance with Pleks. Gionta was invisible for yet another game. Good thing Max, DD and PK showed up.

“Being on the PP doesn’t make you an offensive threat anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.”
Henry Ford

And you know what that gets you? A playoff matchup with Tampa who sits 2nd in the division and with the 3rd overall best record in the Eastern Conference…All while Philly and Washington would face each other right now and if it was the old format it would be a 6 v. 8 first round matchup.

We saw last nite what PK can be when he is on his game and also something that many good players struggle with. PK makes the players around him better. That raises him to the elite status. I believe he should go to Russia but will not be surprised if he doesn’t.
When I think of offensive defencemen of the past, I think of Phil housley, Paul Coffee, Bjore Salming etc. Not one of those guys could hold PK’s jock. PK has an elite defensive element to his game as well as his offensive element. He is a complete package, albeit a young complete package. At 24, he’ll be a force in MTL for another 10 years if they are smart.

“Being on the PP doesn’t make you an offensive threat anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.”
Henry Ford

Loved PK’s celebration after his goal. Done right in front of his bench and Therrian. It is like he was telling coach Therrian “I might not be able to do a low 5 with Price after the game, but I am going to slide on my knee and pump my fist because I am the best player in the NHL. Enjoy the show coach.”

I actually agree with you if, as I suspect, you’re saying PK is one of those exuberant players whose celebrations are entirely spontaneous expressions exploding from a high-point in the game he loves. (cf. his celebration on tying the game in Raleigh — can’t believe someone criticised that).

But I also think the essence of ProHabs’ point may be more to do with how Therrien will have experienced PK’s celebration, hopefully along the lines of, “I must find ways to ensure this happens with greater frequency.”

On Sportsnet tonight, James Cybulski referred to PK as both electrifying and polarizing….how the hell is he polarizing??? Why do all these commentators always qualify their opinions of him? I think we know why.

The only “polarising” had better be between those at one pole who are 100% certain that he is fantastically gloriously excellent on and off the ice, and those on the other that think, yes he is all that, but that is only because he is superhuman.

Other than that it is a typical piece of moronic journalist blitherspeak.

There is no way come Tuesday that PK is off the team Canada roster! There might be a question of him being in the top 6 and seeing the ice but he will for sure be part of the 8 d-men. Stevie Y can’t diss this guy as he is going to be one of the automatic picks in the next 2 upcoming Olympics, so getting his feet wet is a must. Here are my top 8 d-men and they will be team Canada’s as well. Spot on…….here we go.

it is amazing how a great player like Yzerman can become a total schmuck practically overnight. If these idiots don’t pick PK there will be no reason to cheer for this team. Bouwmeester ahead of Subban? Gimme an break.

Great recap as always Boone. Your thoughts about P.K. being motivated by the slight of not making the team made me think about my position in this whole “debate”. It would definitely light a fire under him if he were omitted.

In the end though, I still land on the side of wanting him on the team. Not only for the experience, which I think would be huge for a guy as young as P.K., but for selfishly patriotic reasons as well. We just aren’t sending our best team if P.K. isn’t on it.

You’re right.
It would be great if P.K. were selected.
But it’s such an effing old boys’ club … although not as bad as Gretzky and his pals.
I’m still blown away by Brian Burke trash-talking Bobby Ryan. That blowhard who never played a game in the NHL …

If you put any of the best NHL scorers on ice and let me choose 1 defenceman to be there on ice between him and Price, I trust Subban hands down.

People call him an offensive defenceman, but he is an elite defenceman period. He is crafty with the puck, yes. Can pass, carry the puck, score… But just as good he can hit, fight for puck, break a chance against, clear the zone. Elite D. Top 2 in the NHL with Duncan Keith.